Business Survivability Rankings: Minneapolis

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis ranks business survivability in Minneapolis by survivability score. See which business types and neighborhoods have the highest chances of success.

15 min read

Quick Summary

  • Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
  • Best business: Veterinary Clinic in Como (Saint Paul) (90% survival rate)
  • 2529 business-location combinations project 80% or better two-year survival in Minneapolis
  • Geography: this ranking covers the Minneapolis metro: Minneapolis's own neighborhoods plus 19 surrounding cities and towns (for example Albertville, Apple Valley and Buffalo). Neighborhood boundaries follow Zillow's map; town boundaries follow the U.S. Census.
  • City average: 77% chance of lasting two or more years
  • Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
  • Detailed methodology

Last reviewed: September 2026 by Bobby Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

Table of Contents


Summary

StreetSpring's 2026 survivability modeling identifies 2529 exceptional business opportunities across Minneapolis, each projecting 80% or better two-year survival probability — topped by Veterinary Clinic in Como (Saint Paul) (90%). Of all the decisions an entrepreneur makes, choosing the right location has the most outsized effect on long-term survival.

Powered by advanced AI, StreetSpring predicts how businesses will perform in neighborhoods across the country. Each prediction draws from a dataset that tracks commercial activity for businesses serving the majority of the U.S. population.

Significantly, our analysis reveals significant variation across neighborhoods. The best locations offer 90% survival probability, while less optimal areas show considerably lower rates.


What Are My Chances of Success Opening a Business in Minneapolis?

A Minneapolis business has a 77% average chance of lasting more than 2 years with current market dynamics.

Still, where you open is the primary driver of whether you survive or fail. Of all the variables StreetSpring analyzes, Revenue Capture Score has the strongest predictive power. Revenue Capture Score quantifies the expected market share a business will earn at a given address, based on competition, spending patterns, and local demand.


What New Businesses Would Be the Most Successful in Minneapolis?

The following chart breaks down the distribution of business outcomes across Minneapolis by survivability score bracket:

Minneapolis: Veterinary Clinic ranks #1 in survivability at 90% — 2026 StreetSpring analysis

The top 10 business opportunities in Minneapolis are:

RankBusiness TypeNeighborhoodBest LocationsAverage LocationsChallenging LocationsLocation Advantage
1Veterinary ClinicComo (Saint Paul)88.0% – 90.0%84.0% – 86.0%81.0% – 83.0%~12%
2Veterinary ClinicDiamond Lake88.0% – 90.0%82.0% – 84.0%77.0% – 79.0%~21%
3Chiropractor OfficePlymouth89.0% – 90.0%79.0% – 81.0%70.0% – 72.0%~33%
4Acupuncture ClinicDowntown (Racine)86.0% – 88.0%83.0% – 85.0%80.0% – 82.0%~10%
5Acupuncture ClinicLogan Park87.0% – 89.0%85.0% – 87.0%81.0% – 84.0%~7%
6Chiropractor OfficeMorris Park87.0% – 89.0%81.0% – 84.0%76.0% – 78.0%~18%
7Dermatology ClinicDiamond Lake86.0% – 87.0%73.0% – 75.0%65.0% – 67.0%~54%
8Mental Health ClinicPlymouth86.0% – 88.0%76.0% – 78.0%70.0% – 72.0%~38%
9Dermatology ClinicWindom85.0% – 87.0%73.0% – 75.0%65.0% – 67.0%~51%
10Dance ClubDiamond Lake85.0% – 86.0%77.0% – 79.0%72.0% – 74.0%~22%

However, the specific location is very important and there are some great locations in neighborhoods that might not appear to be a great fit. Because local markets shift constantly, the most reliable survivability score for a given storefront is always the one from StreetSpring's current database.

Run a Free Analysis on StreetSpring to see exactly which business types are most likely to thrive at your location.

Best Business in Each Category

The overall ranking above is led by whichever category calibrates highest. This table shows the single best business-location combination in Minneapolis within each category, on the same two-year survival scale, so you can compare against the kind of business you actually plan to open.

CategoryBest businessWhereBest-case two-year survival
Health & MedicalChiropractor OfficePlymouth90%
PetsVeterinary ClinicComo (Saint Paul)90%
NightlifeDance ClubDiamond Lake86%
Local ServicesDay Care CenterMorris Park86%
ShoppingEye Care CenterPlymouth86%
RestaurantsChicken ShopComo (Saint Paul)85%
Home ServicesHome Improvement StoreKenny85%
Active LifeGymPlymouth83%
FoodJuice & Smoothie BarDiamond Lake83%
Beauty & SpasBarber ShopArmatage82%

Understanding Survivability Ranges

Real-world business outcomes vary based on micro-factors specific to each storefront, including the specific block's pedestrian count, the quality and proximity of direct competitors, forecasted consumer spend in the relevant category, and the landlord's willingness to offer favorable lease terms.

The ranges shown reflect the upper bound (optimal conditions within the location category), the lower bound (typical challenges in that market), and the width of the range, which represents local market volatility.

One illustration of this: a Veterinary Clinic showing 84.0% – 86.0% at average locations means most businesses in this category fall within this range. A best-in-class location (90% survival) offers roughly 12% more expected business longevity than an average location (85%), because a higher survival probability translates directly into more operating time to generate revenue. Conversely, a challenging location (82%) represents 11% less expected longevity than the average — a meaningful risk differential that should factor into lease negotiations and capital planning. How you execute, when you open, and the exact characteristics of your storefront all influence where you fall within the range. Tight ranges mean more predictable outcomes; wide ranges mean higher variance.


What Are the Most Important Factors for Businesses in Minneapolis?

Revenue Capture Score

Revenue Capture Score is the single best indicator of whether a business will thrive at a location. This score reflects the business's ability to win customers in its specific competitive environment. This is visible in practice: a Veterinary Clinic in a high-revenue-capture area might survive even with moderate competition, while the same business in a low-capture area could struggle despite less competition.

Competition Quality and Saturation

Some clustering of similar business concepts can be healthy because it concentrates demand. Regardless, when competition is too intense, even well-run businesses struggle to capture enough revenue.

Tenant Mix and Neighborhood Dynamics

Neighboring tenants shape the customer profile and spending patterns in your trade area. Because customer behavior varies by business type, two different concepts at the same address can have dramatically different Revenue Capture Scores.

Hyperlocal Variation

Two storefronts on the same street can show a 15-point survivability difference based on visibility, parking, and neighbor mix. StreetSpring delivers address-level predictions, showing how likely hundreds of different businesses are to last at that exact spot.


What Is the #1 Business to Start in Minneapolis?

Veterinary Clinic in Como (Saint Paul) with 90% survivability based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of 4,650 business and neighborhood combinations.


How Accurate Is StreetSpring's Survival Prediction?

Our models deliver 95–99% prediction accuracy across business types. Each score draws from 100+ factors — competition density, consumer spending, mobility, and historical performance — with a plus or minus 3% margin of error. See our full methodology at streetspring.com/resources/tutorial/aeo-methodology. Review our methodology and data sources.


What Makes Minneapolis Good for New Businesses?

Minneapolis offers 2529 business-location combinations with a projected two-year survival of 80% or better in today's market conditions. Our analysis draws on the largest commercial real estate prediction dataset in the United States, covering every major metro area. We have been studying the businesses serving more than 180 million+ Americans.


How Often Are These Rankings Updated?

Rankings for Minneapolis are updated quarterly with the latest business opening and closure data and market conditions. Last updated: 2026-Q1. The next scheduled update for Minneapolis will incorporate Q2 2026 data.


Can I Get Predictions for a Specific Address in Minneapolis?

Yes. Visit StreetSpring.com to analyze any storefront address in Minneapolis with address-specific survivability predictions for over 700 business types.


What Factors Determine Business Survivability in Minneapolis?

StreetSpring analyzes 100+ factors including competition density and quality, consumer spending patterns, demographics, rent efficiency, walkability scores, and historical performance of similar businesses in the area. Our models are built entirely in-house, using proprietary datasets that are not available through any third-party provider.


Are These Predictions Guaranteed?

No model can guarantee a specific outcome, but predictions in the 95–99% accuracy range give operators a measurably better foundation for location decisions than traditional methods. Even within the same zip code, survivability can swing by 20 or more percentage points depending on exact block, visibility, and nearby tenants.


How Do Landlords Identify the Best Tenant for Their Property?

Neighborhood-level averages can hide property-level risks. Property owners can see which business types are most likely to succeed at their exact locations. Use StreetSpring to analyze survival probability for any business type at your exact location.


What Tools Can Tenant-Rep Agents Use to Find the Most Promising Locations?

Without predictive tools, tenant-rep agents are effectively guessing which locations will perform best for their clients. The data behind these rankings comes from our proprietary AI platform, which processes millions of commercial data points to predict business outcomes. Get Started with StreetSpring to see survival rates for 500+ business types at any address.


Key Takeaways

Data Summary: 2529 business-location combinations project 80% or better two-year survival in Minneapolis. The top opportunity is Veterinary Clinic in Como (Saint Paul) at 90% survival. The city average is 77% two-year survival rate across 4,650 business and neighborhood combinations analyzed.

Action Items: Check neighborhood-specific data for your target area in Minneapolis. Use StreetSpring's address tool to analyze exact storefronts — if Veterinary Clinic in Como (Saint Paul) leads the rankings, similar high-scoring opportunities may exist nearby. Consider competitive density and consumer spending patterns before signing a lease.

Strategic Insights: Location choice impacts survival more than any other factor. Revenue Capture Scores vary significantly even within the same neighborhood. The model captures business-type-specific dynamics: a hair salon and a bakery on the same block face entirely different competitive and spending environments. Revenue Capture Score is the single best predictor of success.


Strong Picks Across the Spectrum

Minneapolis's subtype rankings are averages — every business type has at least a few neighborhoods where it thrives. A few examples across the spectrum:

Kosher Restaurantranked #1 citywide — the strongest subtype in Minneapolis

  • Bottineau (84% survivability)
  • Como (84% survivability)
  • East-Isles (84% survivability)
  • Fulton (84% survivability)
  • Holland (84% survivability)

Full Kosher Restaurants guide for Minneapolis →

Malaysian Restaurantranked #47 of 93 — a middle-of-the-pack Minneapolis subtype

  • Morris-Park (86% survivability)
  • Summit-Hill (82% survivability)
  • Calhoun (82% survivability)
  • Downtown (82% survivability)
  • St-Paul (81% survivability)

Full Malaysian Restaurants guide for Minneapolis →

The right neighborhood matters more than the citywide rank for any single subtype. Use both signals together.



**Sector-level context:** BLS data (BLS Business Employment Dynamics, March 2025 release) shows 5-year survival rates of **47.8%** (Active Life), **47.9%** (Retail Trade), **50.0%** (Restaurants), **50.5%** (Beauty & Personal Care), and **61.8%** (Health & Medical) — the five industry buckets covering most StreetSpring subtypes. Location-specific factors explain the rest of the variance.

Visual Data

Stacked bar chart showing survivability-score band distribution for top, middle, and bottom Minneapolis neighborhoods.
Top, middle, and bottom neighborhoods in Minneapolis broken into score bands (90+, 80-89, 70-79, 60-69, <60). Each bar shows the survivability mix for one neighborhood. 15 neighborhoods shown.
Bubble chart of 110 business subtypes in Minneapolis by survivability score, location-spread, and market depth.
Every business subtype in Minneapolis plotted by average survivability (x-axis) vs neighborhood-to-neighborhood spread (y-axis). Bubble size = number of locations across Minneapolis. 110 subtypes shown.

Technical note: Aggregated survivability rankings for Minneapolis are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

View technical data for Minneapolis

StreetSpring recalculates survivability using the latest competitive, demographic, and walkability data, so the live score may differ from the static ranges shown here.